3: Chapter History of Radio Audience Measurement KDKA (Pittsburgh) broadcast the 1920 election results (Harding's victory over Wilson). Radio captured the public's imagination; stations went on the air across the nation in the 1920's. In 1923 AT&T began networking stations in large cities, and by 1925 advertisers were using network radio. The AT&T network became the first network in 1926 (later called NBC Red). In the early decades of radio it was often at the center of family life. Children and adults would gather in the living room and listen to the one radio in the home. Radio would dominate home entertainment with family members tuning in to favorite shows with the stars of the day. Advertisers saw radio's potential for creating sales. Broadcasters and advertisers cooperated in developing programs that would be suitable for sponsorship. By the time of the Great Depression in 1929, radio station owners turned increasingly to advertisers for support. By the mid-1940's radio was dominated by four networks NBC Blue, NBC Red, CBS, and Mutual. That is, 95% of radio stations were affiliated with one of these networks. Radio was also advertiser-dominated. The advertisers created the programs and purchased time from the networks to air the programs. Thus, the important question was: Which of these programs drew the biggest audiences? Growing importance of advertising Mass marketing became important -- how to reach consumers and sell the same product to millions. It was known as undifferentiated marketing (unlike today's segmentation) and radio offered a means to spread the message to a national market of more-or-less standardized consumers. Q: What was needed for radio to be a successful advertising medium? A: Information about who was in the listening audience. In the early years advertisers' purchases of radio time were being made on faith. Q: What were some early approaches to measuring response to advertising and listening? A: Advertisers offered coupons or prizes audience response was an...
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